David Jones scored 24 points and Nae'Qwan Tomlin added a double-double 18 points and 12 rebounds Thursday (3/14) as the Memphis Tigers season ended with an unceremonious loss to Wichita State. Final: Wichita State Shockers 71 Memphis Tigers 65
Wildly, Wichita State played like a team that expected to win. Indeed after the game their coach said as much.
Memphis will not participate in the NIT Tournament according to Penny Hardaway. Full coverage of Penny and the Tigers saga live on 92.9 FM ESPN, Memphis' Sports Station.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The fifth-seeded Memphis Tigers dropped a 71-65 decision to No. 12 seed Wichita State Thursday afternoon in the second round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
David Jones led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin pulled in a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Tigers (22-10) had won nine-straight meetings with the Shockers (15-18) entering Thursday and early on, it seemed as though they would make it 10.
Memphis hit four-straight shots and used a 9-0 scoring run midway through the first half, highlighted by a poster slam from Tomlin, that put the Tigers in front 18-14. The game see-sawed back-and-forth over the next few minutes, until Wichita State went into the break with a 35-33 lead behind 54-percent shooting from the field.
The Shockers had Memphis on its heels to start the second half as they came out and scored the first nine points to take a 44-33 advantage less than four minutes in.
The Tigers didn’t have an answer for Wichita State on the defensive end, allowing the Shockers to hit 12-of-20 shots over a 14-minute span to build their largest lead of the game at 55-41.
Memphis tried to mount a comeback with nine-consecutive points, during which Jordan Brown scored six, to cut it to 55-50. After a pair of Wichita State free throws, the Tigers roared back with another run, this time an 8-0 spurt from Jones to give Memphis its first lead, 58-57, since the 5:37 mark of the first half.
Less than 30 seconds later, Wichita State scored the next seven points to regain the lead for good and Memphis could never get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
The Tigers shot 36.2-percent overall (25-69) and hit just 8-of-29 from deep (27.6%) and 7-of-10 from the stripe (70.0%).
Wichita State was led by 17 points from Harlond Beverly and 13 from Colby Rogers. The Shockers shot 46.7 percent for the game (28-60) and nailed 7-of-23 from distance (30.4%).
POSTGAME NOTES
Memphis used the starting lineup of Jahvon Quinerly , Jaykwon Walton , David Jones , Nicholas Jourdain and Nae’Qwan Tomlin for the eighth time this season.
The Tigers finished 5-3 with that starting group.
Memphis fell to 10-2 all-time against Wichita State under Penny Hardaway.
The Tigers had won 9-straight meetings.
Thursday’s defeat was the first exit before the quarterfinals for Memphis since joining the AAC in 2014.
David Jones finished the year with his 19 th game of 20-plus points.
He grabbed seven rebounds (five offensive) with four steals and three assists in 37 minutes.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin hauled in his second double-double of the year and the fourth of his career.
He finished the game with 18 points, 12 rebounds and a team-high two blocks.
Jahvon Quinerly struggled from the field, hitting just 3-of-15 shot attempts.
The fifth-year point guard recorded eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Wichita State outscored Memphis 36-32 in the paint and 12-3 in second-chance points.
The Shockers outrebounded the Tigers 42-37 and dished 19 assists to Memphis’ 14.
The Tigers led for 8:46 of the game, while the Shockers led for 27:15.
There were 14 lead changes and seven ties.
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